grapple

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (6)  · 
“
The NRL and most of it's clubs not only have serious financial issues, the game in Australia is being shackled by poor attendances, the salary cap system, star players fleeing the continent for big money in Europe, wrestling on field (otherwise known as the grapple tackle) and, perhaps most significant of all, players 'indiscretions off the field.

View all »
Definitions (30)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (10)

  1. noun An iron shaft with claws at one end, usually thrown by a rope and used for grasping and holding, especially one for drawing and holding an enemy ship alongside. Also called grapnel, grappling, grappling hook, grappling iron.
  2. noun Nautical See grapnel.
  3. noun The act of grappling.
7 more from this dictionary »

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (12)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (5)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • To the end of the grapple was attached a long, thin very stout silk line. —  054 - Ost
  • The end of the cord was tied to a collapsible grapple, and the grapple was hooked around a radiator pipe A slowly descending shadow, he reached the roof of the Dark Sanctuary, then searched rapidly. —  098 - The Golden Man
  • Even a small man wouldn't have been able to climb up through the hole if a grapple was blocking part of it. —  AHMM,January-February2008
  • He reached hastily to ascertain if the grapple was still fixed in the crevice. —  039 - The Seven Agate Devils
  • Out rushed the gnome-like men pulling their grapple, and Connor thrust his body between them and the Princess, taking the fierce rays on his own flesh. —  Startling Stories January, 1939
More examples »
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 131 times.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Add a related word »
Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

asserter ·  klatha ·  forend ·  sleepwalk ·  hophead ·  brach ·  splodge ·  refurbish ·  toadyism ·  offthe ·  discursiveness ·  longline

Used in the same contextWord Family

grapple:   grappled ·  grappling ·  grapples
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English grapel, from Old French grapil, diminutive of grape, hook; see grape.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Early modern English also graple; from Old French grappil, a grapple (of a ship), equivalent to grappin (later diminutive *grappinel, later English grapnel, q. v.), diminutive of grappe, a hook, a cluster of grapes: see grape and grapple, v.
  2. Early modern English also graple, grapel; from grapple, n., q. v. Popularly associated with grab, grasp, with which, however, it has no connection. The freq. of grab is grabble, q. v., and grasp is ult. a derivative of grope.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/ˈgræpl/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about once a week.

Recently looked up

navicular · learninge · bush · despondency · sweetbread

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

qualms · poofter · oh for heaven's sake · embodies · silence